Jacobs' time almost up at ESPN affiliate

WTMM not renewing contract of drive-time radio talk-show host

Updated 10:40 pm, Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The revolving door of talk-show hosts at WTMM (104.5 FM) has caught Bruce Jacobs and sent him exiting.

Jacobs, hired two years ago as afternoon drive-time host after the station fired Brian Sinkoff, was told his contract will not be renewed, he confirmed Tuesday.

"I can't say I'm devastated by it, and I can't say I'm thrilled about that," Jacobs said. "Life has got to be lived, and it can't be lived in wallowing. I don't wallow."

His last day will be Friday, Sept. 6. Mike Lindsley, hired in September as early-afternoon and Yankees pregame host, will slide into Jacobs' slot. Armen Williams, recently hired to take over programming duties at the ESPN-affiliated station, will take Lindsley's time window.

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The move comes four months after Brian Noe, who was WTMM program director when Jacobs was hired, left the station.

Jacobs, 49, is known for being edgy with his sports talk. He got into some trouble a few months after his arrival for some anti-gay remarks in a discussion about WNBA teams. He apologized on air the next day.

"I didn't get fired for saying something," Jacobs said. "I didn't say anything outlandish that got me kicked out the door. For whatever reason, they decided not to offer me up another contract. It certainly wasn't ratings-related."

He said seven ratings books were released during his tenure, and in only one of them did his ratings slide from the previous period.

Jacobs directed questions about the reasons for his dismissal to management at the station, which is owned by Town Square Media.

A call to Stephen Giuttari, operations manager at Town Square, was not returned.

"I have no ill will toward these folks," Jacobs said. "We may not have seen eye-to-eye on all things, but they've never done anything cruel or mean or anything like that. They asked me if I would stay until Sept. 6, so I agreed."

Jacobs, a native New Yorker who worked in Phoenix for 16 years, said he plans to return to Arizona. He does not have a job lined up yet.

"I'm no good if I'm not working," he said. "You don't want to be around me. I've got to be working. I've got to be busy."